Essence of an Affair Read online

  'Wait, let me understand this,' the therapist said. 'Your wife avoids wearing perfume because it makes you feel uncomfortable.'

  'That's correct.'

  'And yet your job is, if I'm not mistaken, developing new perfumes?'

  Jens nodded. 'When I'm working, it's in very controlled conditions. The amounts of scent I deal with are very small--I only need a very small amount to operate. And I know exactly which substances I'm dealing with while I'm working with them.'

  'I see.'

  Jens sighed, wishing that his new therapist might be a little more supportive and a little less judgmental. He said, 'When I deal with perfumes in my work, I'm dealing with very pure substances, drawn from very clean containers in a sterile environment. When you detect perfume on a person... what you are smelling is the perfume spread over their skin. The fragrance is designed to blend with, and conceal, their natural scent...'

  The therapist nodded in understanding.

  'So, when your washing machine broke, you discovered, what, that Effie has been wearing perfume at work?'

  'Not when she's at work,' he said. 'When she goes out at night with her friends, or her co-workers. With our routine... she was always able to take a swim and then put her clothes straight in the washing machine--'

  'So you never detected the perfume on her before?'

  'No.'

  'So she might have been doing this for some time?'

  Jens nodded. 'Possibly.'

  'What is the significance of her wearing perfume?' the therapist asked him. 'I mean... a lot of people would wear perfume when they're socializing like that.'

  'When we started seeing each other, I once asked her whether it annoyed her that I was so sensitive to things like perfume,' Jens explained. 'She said she didn't need to wear it if the only man she was trying to impress was me.'

  The therapist peered at him over the top of his half-moon spectacles. He said, 'So now that she's taken to wearing perfume again, you're of the belief that it's because she's trying to... impress another man?'

  'That is my impression, yes.'

  'And that... upsets you?'

  Jens frowned briefly, but said, 'No. Not at all. Because we have our arrangement.'

  'Of course, your arrangement.'

  'Yes. I mean, I understand most people have needs when it comes to... well, sex. Women. Men. People can choose not to, but a lot of people still... need it.'

  'So she knew full well that, as far as you were concerned, if she wanted to sleep with someone else... she could?' the therapist asked him.

  'That is what I said--while we were dating, while we were preparing for the wedding,' Jens said. 'She always told me, when we talked about it, that she didn't need anyone else, that she was happy with me, even if it meant missing out on certain things. But I got her to agree that if, one day, she did... feel the need...'

  'And if she did feel the need,' the therapist asked him, 'would she have to talk to you about it? Ask your permission?'

  Jens shook his head. 'It was... we agreed that she should simply go ahead and... well, that I didn't need to know. That it would be easier that way.'

  'As far as you know, has she ever... taken up the offer?' the therapist asked him, peering over his glasses again. Jens wondered faintly if the sexual aspect of all this was of interest to the man. If it thrilled him.

  'Not as far as I know,' Jens said.

  'But she could have?'

  'She could have.'

  That evening, Jens had torn open the plastic bag containing Effie's clothes from the previous day. He wasn't angry at her--he'd always said to her that she was free to take from other men what she couldn't get from him. Was he jealous? No, he wouldn't have said he was jealous, either. He was curious. He was interested. And he felt a strange feeling he hadn't really experienced much before.

  He was turned on.

  Kneeling there in front of the defunct washing machine, he held Effie's white work shirt up to his nose, breathing in deeply. Was he torturing himself out of some kind of masochistic need to punish his inability to give his wife everything she needed from a marriage? The smell was overwhelming at first. It did make him feel a little giddy, a little light-headed. But he got past that.

  For some reason, he felt good breathing in the scent from her clothing. It was quite a surprise to him. He didn't feel ill, he didn't get a headache. He didn't think about little microbes living in Effie's clothing. He was too distracted.

  He knelt there, and his manhood was jutting up, rock-hard, between his legs. Goodness.

  'In your mind,' the therapist said, 'this perfume on her clothing was indicative that she was... considering an affair. Not that she was already having one?'

  'I wasn't sure at first,' Jens said. 'It needed further investigation.'

  3

  Obsessed

  Jens dropped Effie's shirt, and instead picked up her bra. It looked expensive, a luxurious pink satin, quite different from what she usually wore. He felt like a complete pervert--and yet the urge was strong in him to pick it up, to press it to his nose, to inhale and let the lingering remnants of her perfume fill his chest. It wasn't just her perfume that he detected, of course. There were other notes that he knew were not in the fragrance itself--he recognized it, of course, as Eve's Orchard, one of the more sophisticated products his company produced. There was a slightly musty, woody scent with a powerful overtone of sweet butterscotch--that could only be Effie herself, her personal smell.

  He couldn't breathe it in for too long before he started feeling dizzy, and feared he might collapse--his nose was too sensitive, and unaccustomed to being used this way. But the big surprise was that he enjoyed her scent. It excited him like nothing he'd ever experienced.

  It was a revelation, one of the biggest he could remember.

  He was thinking perhaps he ought to come right out and tell Effie that it was okay if she wore a little perfume, that he'd be able to handle it. Or that she could get away with simply showering in the morning before she went to work, rather than in the evenings as well.

  But was she wearing the perfume only to impress some guy she worked with? Jens knelt clutching Effie's clothes, sporting the most monumental erection, and the smell of Eve's Orchard made him certain Effie had come to the point where she needed intimate relations with a man, even if she had once abhorred all men.

  And somehow, that made Jens feel even more excited--so much so that he came, right there and then, kneeling there in his pajamas. It made him feel so good, so warm, so contented--all for a few seconds. Then, as the rosy glow faded, and his cock softened again, he was aware of the horrible wetness that had spread all over his lap. Wet, sticky, and soon enough in this chilled, air-conditioned apartment, it was cold.

  Oh, so embarrassing. And just disgusting.

  Somehow he avoided nausea--probably because he was coming down from an enormous high. But he knew he had to hurry before he started feeling ill. He stripped off his clothing and stuffed it in yet another plastic bag, sealing it up ready to wash once the machine was fixed. Then he took another shower. He was just praying that Effie would be a little late--she'd be curious why he was taking such a late shower, and perhaps she'd realize that it was his second shower of the night. Under the flow of the water, he worked out a cover story--he'd spilled his dinner, or something like that.

  So embarrassing.

  By his standards, it was a quick shower. But then when he shut off the water, he heard the unmistakable sound of the front door closing, and his stomach dropped.

  'Hey, honey!' came Effie's voice.

  He didn't answer--he was furiously drying himself off with a towel, trying to get his cover story straight, but the problem was that there simply wasn't any evidence that a spill of his food had occurred--no kitchen towels with food over them in the garbage, nothing. He didn't feel comfortable lying.

  'Oh my God!'

  He bumped straight into Effie as he was coming out of the bathroom--and she was naked, completely nake
d. She had been so quick at stripping off her clothes, he hadn't had a chance to even get out of the bathroom.

  'Oh God, I'm so sorry!' she exclaimed.

  Jens was a little stunned at first. Stunned by all her exposed golden skin, her breasts, her stomach, her legs, the little dark triangle of hair between her legs. Stunned by the strong burst of her perfume when he breathed in, along with her own personal smell, that butterscotch goodness. Wow. It was almost too much--almost. And despite his shower, despite what had happened when he'd breathed in her scent from her clothes, his erection was coming back. He just had time to hide it with his towel before her eyes dropped that far down his body.

  She was wearing the same perfume again. Eve's Orchard. It made him snap to the conclusion that she had been trying to impress guys in her office--or someone in particular. And it only made his manhood firm up more quickly.

  'I'm sorry,' he said at last, when his tongue unfroze. 'I didn't mean--'

  'Are you... is everything okay?' she said, taking a step back, fearing he might have a panic attack since she hadn't yet showered from her day at work.

  'Yeah... I just... I spilled something,' he said, holding that towel firmly in place. Stepping back, Effie only made it easier for him to see the full beauty of her naked body, and it only made him feel more of that strange arousal he wasn't really used to.

  'I could... I could take a swim upstairs instead?' she offered.

  'No, it's okay,' he shook his head, and took a tentative step out of the bathroom. Why did he have the strong urge to bury his head between her breasts? To breathe in that intoxicating scent directly from her skin. 'I'm done in there now.'

  She smiled, and took a step forward, and they did a funny little awkward dance as she tried to step around him, and he moved the wrong way to try to accommodate her. He breathed in another chestful of her scent, and it took just about all his concentration to conceal his reaction.

  'They didn't fix the washing machine, yet?' she said.

  'No, there's a part they need to order in.'

  'That's awful--are you going to be okay?'

  'I think so. I'll be all right.'

  She wasn't particularly trying to hide her nudity, and he supposed it was because she didn't see him as any kind of threat, any kind of risk. He had no libido, in her eyes. He was just her best friend, nothing more. But Jens watched her slowly walk into the bathroom, her hips gently tilting with each step, her gorgeous buttocks moving in such an irresistible way. He was confused, but pleasantly so. He'd seen glimpses of her naked body before, but hadn't ever responded like this. Admittedly, it had only ever been from afar--it had never been like this, up close. And she'd always been clean, scent-free.

  'You know, I could take all those clothes to a laundry place, get it done,' she said from the bathroom. 'And maybe it would be easier if I just go take a swim as soon as I get home from work--you know, keep my clothes up there until the washer's repaired.'

  'No, it's okay. I'll be okay,' he said. It struck him as odd that he really did think he'd be okay--his normal self would be having fits that the washing machine wasn't repaired the same day it stopped working.

  Effie's perfume lingered in the bedroom air for a few moments until fading in the air conditioning. It gave him such a strong suspicion that she was in the process of trying to seduce someone--and that, strangely, turned him on the most.

  She was in the shower, he could hear the sound of the water falling. She would be there fifteen minutes, easily.

  Jens crept out into the main living area and found her day's clothes all bundled up in a plastic bag by the defunct washing machine. He carefully untied the bag, just about managing to avoid ripping the plastic, then pulled out some of her clothes. Her top was soft, silky, and when he pressed it to his nose it smelled wonderfully of her. Maybe this was progress. Maybe he should tell her he had achieved some kind of breakthrough.

  He just didn't know how to tell her that his progress had been spurred on by her use of perfume, that it had been prompted by the strange sense inside him that she was now in the process of dating another man. That felt wrong, humiliating.

  Putting his hand back in the bag, he was startled as his fingers brushed over something damp. He winced, and his stomach churned. Had she had some kind of spill that evening? On the way home from work, perhaps?

  He told himself it was probably only water, that she had spilled bottled water on herself as she had taken a drink. He calmed himself down, telling himself it was nothing to worry about--and yet, as he pulled the little black item out of the bag, it appeared to be Effie's underwear, her panties, and how could you spill bottled water on your underwear, particularly if you were wearing pants to work?

  Here was a new smell: musky, earthy, with subtle sharpness like a fine, white wine. Was it perspiration? It seemed too strong. There was a hint of her perfume, of course, and her personal smell, but a whole lot more--and it had the strangest effect on him, only increasing his feelings of arousal as he considered this was the scent of her sex. He wasn't wholly naive about women. He realized this was evidence that Effie had been highly aroused herself--was somebody in her office having that effect on her?

  How long did he sit there, teasing and taunting himself with her clothing? He heard her switch off the shower, and then it was a mad scramble for him to stuff her clothes back in that bag, tie it up, then slip back into the bedroom to grab fresh pajamas.

  'Heading to bed already?' Effie said as she came out of the bedroom, one towel wrapped around her body from knees to armpits, another wrapped around her hair.

  Jens was attempting to look as calm and collected as possible, but had only made it as far as his bed before Effie had emerged from the bathroom--so he could accept why she would think he had decided to turn in for the night.

  'Yeah--just really tired,' he said. 'The boss has had us working really hard on this new fragrance for young adults. It's difficult to get right.'

  'Is it like one of those awfully sweet ones that come out endorsed by some kind of teenybopper pop star?' Effie chuckled.

  He watched her stand in front of the full-length mirror at the foot of the bed, pulling open the towel on her body to dry herself some more. Jens couldn't help but look for glimpses of her nakedness--God, he was becoming obsessed.

  'Yeah, something like that,' he said. 'If they get a celebrity to put their name to it... well, that's for the marketing people to decide, I suppose. We're just formulating a product. I'm not sure we're big enough to get a big star, though.'

  She laughed at that. 'Maybe Sarah, huh? Or Christine Milton. Or Caroline -- does it have to be a pop star?'

  He had no idea.

  She just looked so delicious--every curve seemed designed to provoke a response in him. Why had he never felt this way about her before? His theory was that his overall fear of being disgusted by her, as he was by most people--their dirt, their smells, their touch--had made him avoid looking at her like this, avoid engaging with her in any way that might risk problems. But now, suddenly, he felt oddly confident that nothing about her could disgust him--that she was the complete exception to the rule.

  For a moment, she saw him looking at her in the mirror, and smiled. He looked away, and felt himself blushing. Had she caught him? Had she noticed him staring at her like that?

  'Oh, I nearly forgot--I'm going out for drinks with a few people from work tomorrow night,' she said, apparently not noticing anything particularly amiss about his staring at her.

  'Oh, okay,' he said, and felt his cock thickening again within his pajamas--as the thought struck him: is she really having drinks with a 'few people', or is this a date that she's keeping secret from me?

  'I know, twice in one week,' she laughed, perhaps a touch self-conscious.

  'It's no problem,' he said, offering her a relaxed smile as he covered his crotch with his hands.

  He couldn't remember when she'd gone out twice in such quick succession, but it made Jens feel fairly certain that Effie hadn't
done this before, she hadn't been interested in another guy before, she hadn't been ready to embrace her sexuality.

  'Do you think it's just the fact that your wife is now ready to start having sexual intercourse that has had this effect on you?' the therapist asked him at his next session. 'I mean, there are theories about pheromones. Perhaps you're just reacting to the changes within her because she's finally becoming sexually active again...'

  Jens shook his head. 'I don't think that's all of it,' he said. 'I mean, it's possible that might be part of it, but really... it's knowing that she's in the process of seeing someone else. For some reason I just... respond to that. Physically.'

  'You're not 100% certain that she is seeing someone else.'

  'I kind of am.'

  'She told you?'

  'I saw for myself.'

  4

  The Date

  It felt wrong, what he did. But then it felt wrong that Effie would go out on a date with some guy from work, and that she wouldn't breathe a word about it to her husband.

  Jens knew, well enough, that when they'd talked about it originally, he had said he wouldn't want to know about any of it, that she should just go ahead and tend to her needs, and not let him know about what was going on. But things had changed now. It felt wrong that she would do something so significant behind his back--that she should feel the need to tell even a white lie to cover up the truth of what was happening.

  She didn't have to tell him she was going out for a few drinks after work with a few people. That wasn't the truth. And yet... he didn't blame her. It was what she felt she had to do to keep up her side of the arrangement, as they had discussed it.

  'It sounds to me as though you just need to talk to her,' his therapist said. 'Tell her things have changed. You don't want her doing things behind your back anymore.'